Men on the market - Feminist analysis of age-stratified male-male romance in Boys’ Love manga

Aug 20, 2026

Male-male sexuality is a central trope of Boys’ Love (BL) manga, which typically organizes stories around an uke-seme (bottom-top) pair, even though BL is produced and consumed primarily by women. This article analyzes age-stratified male-male romance (pederasty) using a corpus of 234 original Japanese BL manga stories (2003–2012), with 68 identified as age-stratified; eight are examined in depth. Patterns are interpreted through Freud’s eroticized intra-familial dynamics and Lévi-Strauss’s familial economics, informed by Rubin, and discussed via mother-identified son, doubly-divested man, castrated father, men on the market, and phallic mother themes.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages29

Reading Time1 h 13 min

AccessFree to download

Abstract

Male-male sexuality as a trope in Boys’ Love manga

Uke-seme structure and audience demographics

Definition and framing of age-stratified romance (pederasty)

Legal and research context; exclusions and related genres

Prior reader research on shota elements

[eprints@whiterose.ac.uk](eprints@whiterose.ac.uk)[ ](eprints@whiterose.ac.uk)[https://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk](https://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk) Universities of Leeds, Sheffield and York Deposited via The University of Leeds. White Rose Research Online URL for this paper: [https://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/id/eprint/114106/](https://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/id/eprint/114106/) [Version: Accepted Version](Version: Accepted Version) Article: Madill, A (2016) Men on the market: Feminist analysis of age-stratified male–male romance in Boys’ Love manga. Studies in Comics, 7 (2) . pp. 265-287. ISSN: 2040-3232 [https://doi.org/10.1386/stic.7.2.265_1](https://doi.org/10.1386/stic.7.2.265_1) This is an author produced version of a paper published in Studies in Comics. Uploaded in accordance with the publisher's self-archiving policy. Reuse Items deposited in White Rose Research Online are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved unless indicated otherwise. They may be downloaded and/or printed for private study, or other acts as permitted by national copyright laws. The publisher or other rights holders may allow further reproduction and re-use of the full text version. This is indicated by the licence information on the White Rose Research Online record for the item. Takedown If you consider content in White Rose Research Online to be in breach of UK law, please notify us by emailing [eprints@whiterose.ac.uk](eprints@whiterose.ac.uk) including the URL of the record and the reason for the withdrawal request. Madill 1 Comic Studies special issue Sarah Lightman and Catriona McLeod (eds) Madill, A. (2017) . Men on the market: Feminist analysis of age stratified male-male romance in Boys’Love manga. Studies in Comics, 7.2, 265-287. Men on the market: Feminist analysis of age-stratified male-male romance in Boys’Love manga Anna Madill, PhD., School of Psychological Sciences, University of Leeds, UK [a.l.madill@leeds.ac.uk](a.l.madill@leeds.ac.uk) Email: [a.l.madill@leeds.ac.uk](a.l.madill@leeds.ac.uk) [Tele:](Tele:) +(44)1133435750 Madill 2 Abstract Male-male sexuality is the central trope of Boys’ Love (BL) manga with stories tending torevolve around a central uke-seme (‘bottom’-‘top’) pair. Although focused on men, BL is produced and consumed primarily by women. This article presents an analysis of agestratified male-male romance – pederasty-as portrayed in BL. My corpus consists of 234 original Japanese BL manga stories, created by 100 different mangaka (author-artists), published commercially in English between 2003 and 2012. Sixty-eight (30%) of these stories were identified as involving age-stratified relationship, eight of which were selected for detailed analysis. Seven were selected for typicality: Waru (2007) by Yukari Hashida deemed the most typical, and Fangs (2008) by Hiroki Kusumoto included in analysis as the most atypical age-stratified story in order to test the robustness of identified patterns. I argue that that the characteristic themes of age-stratified BL map surprising well onto the eroticised intra-familial dynamics of Freud and the intra-and inter-familial economics of Lévi-Strauss as theorised by Rubin (1975) . The patterns identified are evidenced and discussed under the following headings: the mother identified son, the doubly-divested man, the castrated father, men on the market, and the phallic mother. These themes help build and substantiate my argument that age-stratified BL might work as a feminist critique of patriarchy through the mechanism of phallic divestiture. Keywords: boys love, feminism, homosexuality, manga, psychoanalysis, yaoi. Madill 3 Men on the market: Feminist analysis of age-stratified male-male romance in Boys’Love manga Male-male sexuality 1 is the central trope of Boys’ Love2 (BL) manga and its formula of uke (‘bottom’) and seme (‘top’) so secure that it can be, at times, playfully subverted in reversible couples. A

FAQs

What is the main focus of the article?

The article analyzes age-stratified male-male romance—pederasty—as portrayed in Boys’ Love (BL) manga, using a defined corpus and close analysis of selected stories.

How was the research corpus constructed?

The corpus includes 234 original Japanese BL manga stories created by 100 mangaka and published commercially in English between 2003 and 2012; 68 involved age-stratified relationships, and eight were selected for detailed analysis.

Which theoretical frameworks are used to interpret the identified themes?

The argument maps BL age-stratified themes onto Freud’s eroticized intra-familial dynamics and Lévi-Strauss’s intra- and inter-familial economics, building on Rubin’s theorization.

Aug 20, 2026

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